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• China and multiculturalism
• Son-Tinh affects Hainan flights
• Abuse scandal kindergarten head sacked
• World's first vaccine for hepatitis E launched
• Swedish firm SKF finds its bearings in China
• China becomes largest TV series producer：Xinhua
• China Leader’s Job at Odds With Tobacco Ties, Brookings Says
• China Court to Weigh Corporate-Spy Case
• Have You Heard…
• Typhoon Son-Tinh brings rainstorms to S. China
• China on orange alert with high waves expected in south
• First hepatitis E vaccine hits market in China
• Fire in Hong Kong claims two lives
• China urges Japan not to misread situation
• 6 killed in NW China traffic accident
• Typhoon Son-Tinh to bring rainstorms to S. China

China and multiculturalism Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:56 AM PDT Can China learn to live with multiculturalism?

Son-Tinh affects Hainan flights Posted: 27 Oct 2012 09:06 AM PDT TYPHOON Son-Tinh, the 23rd tropical storm this year, has disrupted 122 flights and brought downpours to south China's island province of Hainan. Eighty-eight inbound and outbound flights were canceled and 34 others delayed, affecting 4,558 passengers, said a source with the Phoenix International Airport of Sanya, in southern Hainan. Almost 2,000 passengers were put up in hotels, said the source. Airport staff also sent some passengers by bus to the airport at Haikou, the provincial capital in the north, to take other flights. Rainstorms and strong gales hit Sanya yesterday. Son-Tinh was spotted out at sea 130 kilometers southwest of Sanya at 5pm yesterday, with maximum sustained winds of 144 km per hour, according to the National Meteorological Center. It was moving northwest at 15 to 20 kph and gaining momentum. At least 24 people were killed and nine others missing after Son-Tinh hit the Philippines on Wednesday as a tropical storm, the country's national disaster authorities said yesterday. It left the Philippines late Friday, gaining strength.

Abuse scandal kindergarten head sacked Posted: 27 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT THE principal of a private kindergarten in east China's Zhejiang Province has been removed from her post following a child abuse scandal there. The head, who has not been named, is a woman in her 30s, authorities confirmed yesterday. Authorities in Wenling City said they have transferred staff from other public kindergartens to the Blue Peacock Kindergarten to help it operate. There was public anger after a picture posted on the Internet on Wednesday showed a teacher, a woman surnamed Yan, holding up a student by his ears. The child is crying in pain in the picture, while Yan is smiling. She is reported to have said she held the child in this way "just for fun." Other photographs showing a child being placed upside down in a rubbish bin and another child whose mouth was sealed with adhesive tape were also uploaded by Yan and another teacher. Yan was detained on suspicion of provoking a disturbance. The other teacher, who took the pictures, was placed under a seven-day administrative detention. Local education authorities have ordered the kindergarten's teachers to apologize to the parents of all of the students in the class where the incident took place. Psychologists have been arranged to talk to the children. The scandal came just a few days after a female teacher in north China's Shanxi Province reportedly slapped a five-year-old kindergarten girl in the face for more than 10 minutes. Experts say the spate of incidents highlights insufficient funding, lax supervision in kindergartens, and a lack of laws penalizing abusive practices.

World's first vaccine for hepatitis E launched Posted: 27 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT THE world's first hepatitis E vaccine "Hecolin" is now available on the Chinese market, a pharmaceutical company confirmed yesterday. The vaccine hit the market after a two-year clinical trial involving 113,000 volunteers in eastern Jiangsu Province. Developed by Xiamen University and Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co Ltd in southeast China's Fujian Province, the vaccine was approved for production late last year. At a launch in the city of Xiamen, Gao Yongzhong, general manager of Xiamen Innovax, said the company is working with the government to offer the vaccine to high-risk members of the public and cooperating with international organizations for use abroad. The hepatitis E virus is shed in feces and spread through water and food. In China, it is the most common type of hepatitis infecting adults.

Swedish firm SKF finds its bearings in China Posted: 27 Oct 2012 08:37 AM PDT Source: By He Wei in Shanghai (China Daily) Even two decades later, Rakesh Makhija, president of SKF Group AB's Asia operations, still recalls his very first experience of China. He remembers it was around 11 pm that he looked up from his book, glanced at the snaking waters below him, took in the squared-off landscape and realized the aircraft he was in was about to land at Shanghai's Hongqiao airport. Upon arrival, he recalled the neon-lit night in Hong Kong, from where he departed. Memories of it still lingered as he made his way to a dimly lit room the size of a basketball court that constituted the terminal. The luggage was dumped on to a creaking conveyor belt mottled with stains. "Those must be really poor bearings," Makhija thought. He grabbed his bag and hopped on a hotel shuttle bus, seeing it as a sanctuary amid thousands of bicycles scattered around the exit. The year was 1991. It's become a clich to say China underwent tremendous changes in the subsequent years. But Makhija said he is more than a witness to the country's achievements. His company joined the influx of Western businesses and began "riding the largest ever industrialization boom". SKF Group AB, a Swedish bearing-to-lubrication conglomerate, celebrated its centennial in China in early September. As in many business narratives, SKF's early presence in China followed the route of appointing an agent, setting up a sales company and, after decades of inactivity, resuming business and introducing manufacturing facilities following the launch of the reform and opening-up policy. It makes products for a range of sectors including automobiles, aerospace, wind energy, construction and industrial transmission. But its China ambitions were not turned on full-force until SKF China Investment Co began operations, Makhija said. "Back in the early 1990s, there were a lot of discussions about massive industrial development in China, notably in areas such as oil, gas, automobiles, refinery and steel plants," he said. At that time he had yet to join SKF, but he could not help noticing the unlocked market potential. Makhija was trained as a chemical engineer in his hometown in India and spent his early career days in Europe. He brought with him technical expertise garnered from a global chemical giant, where he worked in the oil and gas business, both onshore and offshore. Makhija said the combination of engineering and business management makes him perfectly positioned for his current post. "It gives you a strong base to build on," he said. The only thing he failed to bring along is the speed at which work is done in China and the ubiquitous global vision held by Chinese firms, he admitted. In 2000, when he served as head of SKF's Indian company, he traveled to meet a very important customer in China. "They had this huge manufacturing shed, so big I could hardly see the end of it. I was told it was 800 meters in length. It turns out they have eight of them." The scale of the investment certainly stunned him and the ambition of Chinese companies to move up the value chain encouraged SKF to accelerate its deployment in the country. To demonstrate its commitment, SKF introduced all of its five technology platforms in China, including bearings and units, seals, lubrication systems, mechatronics, and services. They mainly fall into the category of industrial business and the automotive market. The company runs 18 manufacturing units and several service units. Primarily a business-to-business company, its clients include car producers, railway manufacturers and wind energy businesses. The company manages to reach end users through its own sales force as well as distributors in more than 300 locations. Asia currently accounts for almost 50 percent of the world bearing market, compared with less than 30 percent just 10 years ago, according to a survey released in May by the Bearing Specialists Association, an international service organization of distributors representing almost 100 companies in the industry. Among them, China has been growing rapidly over the last few years supported by the expansion of its domestic railway infrastructure and a robust demand in renewable energy. It now accounts for more than a quarter of the world's bearing market. Enjoying 13 years of consecutive growth, the company's Asia operations have continued aggressive expansion in all their businesses. In that time, China has helped to lift SKF's balance sheet. While the faltering global economy has temporarily slowed down China's growth pace, it has so far failed to dent SKF's investment here. "Take the automotive sector for example," Makhija said. "While we see single-digit growth this year, you must remember that 8 percent in a car industry that boasts almost 17 million vehicles is such a big base," he said. He forecast the industry will enjoy lower double-digit growth for many years to come, despite the current bumps it is experiencing. The country's automobile sector is certainly dotted with companies that cover the whole supply chain, but what makes SKF stand out is its energy-saving products and attitudes. Despite the enormous strides in improving energy efficiency in passenger cars, Makhija said as little as 15 to 20 percent of the fuel put into the tank gets used to move a car down the road or to power the vehicle's accessories. The rest is lost by engine and driveline inefficiency and idling. As a result of optimized design and internal geometries, SKF launched a new series of energy efficient or E2 ball and roller bearings that exhibit significantly less friction loss than conventional bearings of a similar type. Up to 30 percent of friction reduction in the E2 bearing range applied in a car driveline will save up to eight grams of carbon dioxide emissions per kilometer. According to Zhang Xinfeng, a professor at the Clean-Energy Automotive Engineering Center at Shanghai's Tongji University, a car generally has 30 to 40 bearings. Almost everything that is rotating in the car, such as the gear-box transmission, normally has one or the other kind of bearing. The friction caused by the bearing will have a direct effect on energy consumption. Makhija cited one of the company's clients, a coal mine in North China, that replaced all its bearings in its production lines with E2 models. Essentially it got back its investment quickly because the mine uses a lot of power and the energy reduction successfully offset the initial input. Another such example involved replacing metal-to-metal camshaft bushings with roller bearings, an innovation first used in high-performance racing cars. Some studies show that crankshaft roller bearings can yield fuel savings of up to 5 to 6 percent, as a result of less friction and the fact that only a small oil pump is required. During the celebration of its centennial in China in September, the company vowed to put more resources into the country's automotive market by establishing a new SKF campus in Shanghai's suburban Jiading district to support growth in China and across Asia. The 700 million krona ($104.5 million) investment includes the founding of a new automotive factory that produces hub-bearing units for passenger cars and also the relocation and expansion of the Global Technical Center China, SKF Solution Factory and an SKF College campus. The technical center includes product development, engineering services, global metallurgy and chemistry laboratories, manufacturing process development, testing and product investigation. "Because you often see a lot of compact cars in Asia, we are designing all bearings specifically for these applications," he said. Likewise, the technical center aims to primarily feed local Chinese needs while also meeting standards that apply in markets such as Japan and South Korea. Also in September, SKF inaugurated a plant in Jinan, Shandong province. The operation will double the capacity of tapered roller bearings and truck hub units to serve truckmakers. The factory uses new technology that is designed to make Chinese trucks more competitive and reliable, and help them improve the overall industry standard. In a separate factory in Wuhu in East China's Anhui province, SKF is adding capacity to mass produce a product line of bonded piston seals, designed for a new generation of automatic transmissions. These parts will result in reduced friction and improved fuel efficiency. The Chinese market also guided the company to move into new areas of growth. As the country has been heavily investing in high-speed rail, it infused new momentum into industries such as off-highway vehicles, precision tools and related businesses. To bolster business in China, SKF broke ground with a new regional distribution center located in Shanghai's Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone to shorten delivery times for customers in China and elsewhere in Northeast Asia. The Chinese bearings market is highly fragmented. The main international bearing companies, such as Schaeffler AG, Timken Co Ltd and NSK Ltd, account for about one-third, while a host of local manufacturers such as Zhejiang Tianma account for the other two-thirds. The "In China for China" stance apparently propels SKF to compete with local rivals. To this end, in April the company acquired New York-based General Bearings Corp, which has operations in Shanghai. The purpose is to diversify the portfolio and "create a second brand" for the group, Makhija said. "The SKF brand focuses on energy-saving performance and aims at the premium markets. The second brand will help us tap into areas where performance requirements are lower." While SKF has been a supplier of all bearings to Ferrari Formula One since 1947, it does not go for prominent publicity events, so not many individual customers are familiar with the brand, even though the cars they drive use SKF bearings. But according to Makhija, it's not really necessary for a B2B firm to build a household name. Rather, SKF should be known in the right places and for the right reasons. Despite popular concerns that industrialization is to blame for many environmental problems, Makhija argued that it is in fact a substantial part of the solution. One endeavor is a recent partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature, in which it pledges aggressive targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions for SKF, its suppliers and logistics operations. It started the BeyondZero portfolio including 12 products and solutions that will both improve energy efficiency and support more environmentally friendly energy production. The goal, according to Makhija, is to reduce carbon dioxide for all transport managed by SKF by 30 percent in 2016 below 2011 levels and reduce energy use per unit of output by 5 percent year-on-year during that period. That translates into financial input of 10 billion krona by 2016, quadrupling its current budget in 2012. In addition, SKF is devoted to other corporate social responsibility activities. Each year, it funds young soccer players from China's poverty-stricken areas to participate in the world's largest youth soccer tournament, the Gothia Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden. It also sponsors students from Shanghai's Tongji University and the Beijing Institute of Technology to participate in the annual eco-marathon contest to see whose designs could travel the farthest distance using the least amount of fuel. By providing energy-saving bearings to all youth teams and lending a hand in drafting engineering design, SKF not only creates a strong presence in the sector but, more importantly, educates future stakeholders through the use of energy-efficient ideas in designing critical components in automobiles. "It is necessary for employees to be sensitive and engaged with the local community. Simply put, we want to be Chinese in China. This is the philosophy with which we do business worldwide."

China becomes largest TV series producer：Xinhua Posted: 27 Oct 2012 08:32 AM PDT Source: Morning Whistle China has become the world's largest television series producer after making 15,000 episodes in 2011. The country is also the world's third biggest film producer, Culture Minister Cai Wu said on Wednesday. While briefing national lawmakers at a the bi-monthly session (scheduled from Oct. 23 to 26) of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, Cai said, in 2011 China produced 15,000 television series episodes and 558 movies. It also made 260,000 minutes of animations and 4,000 hours of documentaries. Circulation of daily newspapers also ranked number one in the world, with 1,928 newspapers and 9,849 journals competing in the press market. Cai said in 2011, more than 3,000 novels were published, 1,000 new operas debuted and 1.55 million performances by a domestic cast were staged. A total of 370,000 books, amounting to 7.71 billion copies, were published.

China Leader’s Job at Odds With Tobacco Ties, Brookings Says Posted: 27 Oct 2012 08:49 AM PDT Source: Bloomberg News The brother of Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who oversees public health, should be removed from his post as a top official in China's state-owned tobacco monopoly to avoid conflicts of interest, a report published by the Washington-based Brookings Institution said. Li, set to succeed Wen Jiabao as premier early next year, could boost his reputation as a populist leader and deflect criticism from rivals if his younger brother, Li Keming, is transferred from his position as deputy director at China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, Cheng Li, a Brookings senior fellow, wrote in a report. He said Li Keming's prominent role in the agency that runs the world's biggest tobacco company may have set back efforts to control tobacco in the country. Public opinion in China is becoming more important on social issues including health, environmental protection and food safety, Brookings's Li said today. China has more than 300 million smokers, and at least 1.2 million die from smoking- related diseases each year, a figure set to rise to 2 million a year by 2020, according to the report, released two weeks before China begins a once-a-decade leadership transition. "In all these areas, I think leaders should set examples," Brookings's Li said in an interview. "Particularly now that many countries, including Russia and India, are paying more attention to public health issues." Government Revenue The tobacco industry is more difficult to control because China's government gets so much revenue — 600 billion yuan ($96 billion) in 2011 — from it, the report said. The industry, which makes 2.3 trillion cigarettes a year, consistently contributes 7 to 10 percent of annual government revenues, according to the report. Brookings, a private nonpartisan research group based in Washington, got funding for the study from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the China Medical Board, an American foundation that seeks to advance health in China. Cheng Li is research director for Brookings's John L. Thornton China Center, where he studies China's elite politics. He dedicated the report to his brother, who died of smoking-related causes. "Paradoxically, Li's personal/family ties with the tobacco industry might have prevented him from making a real effort to constrain cigarette production and consumption in the country," Brookings's Li wrote in the report. Market Control The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration both runs and regulates China National Tobacco Corp., the world's biggest cigarette maker with a market share about the size of Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) and British American Tobacco Plc (BATS) combined, the report said. The STMA should be separated from China National Tobacco and the industry should have a new regulator, the report recommended. A person contacted by phone at the State Tobacco Monopoly in Beijing who didn't identify herself said the administration doesn't accept interview requests from foreign reporters. Li Keming didn't respond to a faxed request for comment sent to a number on the monopoly's website. Vice Premier Li Keqiang didn't respond to a faxed request for comment made to the State Council Information Office in Beijing. The volume of cigarettes sold in China is expected to keep rising from 2011 to 2015, London-based researcher Euromonitor International said in July 2011. It forecast China's tobacco market will grow at an average 14 percent a year to hit 1.8 trillion yuan in retail sales in 2015, about the gross domestic product of Malaysia last year. China National Tobacco controlled 97.9 percent of the domestic market in 2010, according to Euromonitor. Tobacco Monopoly Executives at the state tobacco monopoly, which also acts as a regulator, tout the cigarette industry's growth like that of any state-dominated field such as steel or telecommunications. The monopoly's director, Jiang Chengkang, said on a visit to northeast China last year that the tobacco industry needed to "make new breakthroughs in technological innovation" and "improve product taste and development," according to China National Tobacco's website. Li Keqiang's tobacco ties stand in contrast to the family of his future boss, Vice President Xi Jinping, who is set to take over as general secretary of the Communist Party at its congress next month and president next year. Xi's wife, the army folk singer Peng Liyuan, has served as an "Anti-Smoking Ambassador" along with basketball star Yao Ming for the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control. "By doing so, she can help to gain popular support and political capital for her husband to consolidate his power," Li said in the report. He said both Xi and Li Keqiang quit smoking "a couple of decades ago," while 20 percent of the party's 25- person Politburo still smoke. Activist Efforts Anti-tobacco activists have scored victories in China. In 2005, China ratified a World Health Organization initiative to reduce the production and consumption of tobacco, and Health Minister Chen Zhu was recognized by the WHO in July for his tobacco-control efforts. China, which according to the report has a quarter of the world's smokers, aims to ban cigarette advertising, promotions and sponsorship and raise tobacco product taxes and prices, the health ministry said in August. The country aims to cut the smoking rate among men to 40 percent by 2020 from 57 percent in 2002, the ministry said. Those efforts are often stymied by China National Tobacco, which skirts advertising bans through charities and sponsorships, according to anti-tobacco activists. It funds schools throughout the country, including the Sichuan Tobacco Hope Primary School, the Xinhua News Agency reported last year. Devastating Crisis "Chinese authorities have been slow to acknowledge this increasingly devastating public health crisis," Li's report said. "Their hesitance to effectively curtail tobacco production and consumption is driven primarily by the fact that the tobacco industry is one of the largest sources of tax revenue for the Chinese government." Li Keming, who has worked in the tobacco industry for three decades, gets access to top officials when he travels across China, a fact that's "highly unusual in terms of Chinese bureaucratic hierarchy and protocol," Li wrote. One reason may be that local officials want to "curry favor with Li Keqiang," he said. Li Keqiang has told health ministry officials privately that tobacco control efforts can't be real because of the industry's contribution to the economy, according to the report, citing a conversation between Cheng Li and an unidentified public health official in 2011. Zhejiang Visit Li Keming visited coastal Zhejiang province in July, when he met Communist Party Secretary Zhao Hongzhu and other officials to "exchange views on the development of tobacco in Zhejiang," according to a report on the tobacco monopoly's website. Brooking's Li said in the interview that he hopes Li Keming "will be sensitive enough to volunteer to move to a different position, a different industry." "Chinese leaders in the future need to be sensitive about this; it's in their best interest," he said. Transferring Li Keming out of the tobacco industry may make his older brother less vulnerable to political attack from rivals critical of his failure to curb tobacco more effectively while overseeing public health since 2008, the report said. "Although the tobacco industry — a formidable vested interest group — may generate some political support for Li Keqiang, his family ties with the industry may become ammunition for his political rivals," Li wrote. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which provided information for the report, is a partner of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Bloomberg Philanthropies was set up by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

China Court to Weigh Corporate-Spy Case Posted: 27 Oct 2012 08:46 AM PDT Source: Wall Street Journal By Keith Johnson A fight over alleged corporate espionage goes before China's highest court Friday, in a test case watched by U.S. companies for signs of whether China is willing to rein in what they see as unfair behavior. The dispute between AMSC, an engineering firm based in Devens, Mass., and Sinovel Wind Group Ltd., China's biggest manufacturer of wind turbines, has already attracted attention at the highest political levels. Vice President Joe Biden raised it with China's next leader, Xi Jinping, when Mr. Xi visited the U.S. in February. AMSC alleges that Sinovel stole the code for software that helps run the giant machines. Until March 2011, when Sinovel suddenly stopped accepting deliveries of AMSC electrical-control systems with the software that helps operate turbines, the Chinese company was AMSC's biggest customer. AMSC was preparing an updated version of the software that would be compatible with new Chinese grid requirements. After the Sinovel cancellation, AMSC discovered that Sinovel wind turbines in northern China already contained an advanced version of the controller that AMSC says is based on the U.S. company's code. Last year, AMSC's revenue and share price plummeted in the wake of the order cancellation, and it is seeking about $1.2 billion in damages in Chinese courts. In a written statement, Sinovel said, "We have never violated the supply contract and never infringed on the intellectual property rights of AMSC. We deny all allegations." AMSC is looking for the Supreme People's Court in Beijing to allow it to begin civil proceedings; Sinovel had failed to persuade two lower courts to dismiss the case and appealed to the top court. A victory at the high court would enable AMSC to present a spate of evidence in a civil proceeding, including transcripts of Internet chats between an AMSC employee based in Austria, Dejan Karabasevic, and Sinovel's deputy director of research and development, Su Liying. Mr. Karabasevic, who left AMSC in July 2011, pleaded guilty to economic espionage on behalf of Sinovel in September 2011 in district court in Klagenfurt, Austria. He served a year in prison there. AMSC obtained the chat transcripts and emails from Mr. Karabsevic's computers, which were seized in his apartment in Beijing with his authorization while under investigation by Austrian authorities. The material was viewed by The Wall Street Journal. In a confession by Mr. Karabasevic, which is part of the evidence AMSC has compiled and some parts of which were viewed by the Journal, he said his assignment was to steal AMSC's next-generation software at the heart of AMSC's turbine-control system. Sinovel reverse-engineered AMSC's first-generation products and came up with the source code, he said. The company passed that on to Mr. Karabasevic, he said in his confession. After he acquired the next-generation source code from AMSC, he cobbled together his own hybrid version of the software and passed it back to Ms. Su, he said in the confession. Before he created the software, Mr. Karabasevic signed employment contracts with Sinovel and partner companies. One contract began in May 2011, while he was still employed by AMSC. Another contract, with Sinovel itself, was slated to become effective in July 2012 and was authorized by the then-chief executive of Sinovel, AMSC says. The contracts were found in Mr. Karabasevic's Beijing apartment by Chinese private investigators working for AMSC who entered with Mr. Karabasevic's written authorization. According to the transcripts that AMSC hopes to present to a lower court in a civil case, Sinovel's Ms. Su said in a May 10, 2011, Internet chat that other Sinovel executives wanted her to make sure the software Mr. Karabasevic was supplying would be compatible with new technical standards for the Chinese power grid. "Pressure is big," Ms. Su wrote. Mr. Karabasevic remarked, "If you succeed, Sinovel can separate from AMSC." "And I need your strong help. Haha," answered Ms. Su, according to the transcript. On June 11, 2011, Mr. Karabasevic sent an email to Ms. Su with a two-megabyte compressed attachment—the full shipment of both pieces of modified software that he had been contracted to provide, according to emails AMSC said it found on his computer. A lawyer for Mr. Karabasevic didn't respond to request for comment. "It is our belief that Sinovel has upgraded hundreds if not thousands of its turbines with stolen intellectual property," said John Powell, AMSC's general counsel. "Many question whether a Western company can prevail against a Chinese powerhouse like Sinovel," he said, but he stressed that the company believes legal action will lead to a "favorable outcome." The case has gained attention in Washington because of its implications for U.S.-China trade. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, a vocal defender of his home-state firm, said "This isn't a commercial misunderstanding, it's a mugging in broad daylight and a real test of China's commitment to the rule of law." Sinovel has countersued AMSC and accused it of delivering "substandard products" that didn't work with the revised technical standards on the Chinese power grid. "Their products cannot meet the standard of the Chinese market, so we stopped ordering their goods," Sinovel's statement said. Throughout the presidential campaign, President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney have vied to show who can be tougher on China, and both have stressed the need to create a "level playing field" for U.S. firms. Away from the campaign trail, Obama administration officials have also credited Beijing with some progress. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in Beijing in May, "China is taking a number of steps to improve the protection of intellectual property rights." Since 2006, China has officially sought to promote and accelerate innovation among Chinese firms in order to better compete globally, often through mandating technology transfers for Western firms doing business there. That puts foreign firms, which are champing at the bit to enter the Chinese market, in a bind. "The Chinese have said, we are going to use this leverage we have to extort or steal or take as much knowledge and technology as we possibly can and infuse it into our firms. That's a strategy—it's not happenstance," said Robert Atkinson, the president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank. The Chinese embassy in Washington didn't respond to repeated requests for comment. The U.S. International Trade Commission estimated that the U.S. could gain between 900,000 and 2.1 million jobs if China adopted U.S.-style protections on intellectual property. Mr. Romney has cited that estimate in his job-creation plan, and in this week's presidential debate he told the story of a U.S. valve maker that he said was dealing with Chinese counterfeits of its products. China has overhauled its judicial system in recent years, and this month it announced another change meant to "ensure judicial impartiality," among other goals. But longtime observers still see plenty of pitfalls for Western firms seeking redress through Chinese courts. Jerome Cohen, an expert in Chinese law at the New York University School of Law, said the Communist Party, corruption and personal relationships all act as "distorting influences" on the outcomes of otherwise straightforward civil cases in Chinese courts. "Their credibility and their whole economic development require a much different system," he said.

Have You Heard… Posted: 27 Oct 2012 08:30 AM PDT Have You Heard…

Typhoon Son-Tinh brings rainstorms to S. China Posted: 27 Oct 2012 02:09 AM PDT A vehicle moves on the waterlogged road in rain in Sanya, south China's island province of Hainan, today. Son-Tinh, the 23rd tropical storm this year, strengthened to typhoon early Saturday morning and is expected to bring rainstorms and gales to China's southern coastal areas, the country's meteorological authority said today. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

China on orange alert with high waves expected in south Posted: 26 Oct 2012 11:09 PM PDT Typhoon Son-Tinh is expected to cause high waves in the South China Sea with the country issuing an orange level wave warning this morning. The National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center said the tropical storm developed into a typhoon early this morning and was heading toward the northwest with the same strength or slightly gaining force. Orange alert is the second highest level on China's four-tier color-coded warning system for strong winds. Son-Tinh is expected to sweep the South China Sea off Hainan province during tonight. As the Typhoon approached, waves of five to eight meters had been seen in the east of the South China Sea. According to the forecast, waves up to five to eight meters will be seen in the west part of the sea in the 24 hours starting Saturday noon. Waves of three to five meters will be seen in the Northern Bay. Waves up to 3.5 to 4.5 meters high will hit seas off the eastern and southern Hainan province. There could also be waves of two to three meters off the western Hainan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The center warned ships and people in affected areas to be careful urging authorities to take full precautions. It has forecast up to 80 cm of precipitation today along the coast of eastern and southern Hainan province and eastern coast of Leizhou peninsula. The center called on local authorities to expect high tides by reinforcing fishing facilities and sea walls in susceptible areas. It also issued a blue alert for storm surges. China's four-tier warning system consists of red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

First hepatitis E vaccine hits market in China Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:57 PM PDT THE world's first hepatitis E vaccine "Hecolin" is now available on the Chinese market, a pharmaceutical company confirmed today. The vaccine hit the market after a two-year clinical trial involving 113,000 volunteers in east China's Jiangsu Province. Developed by Xiamen University and Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co. Ltd. in southeast China's Fujian Province, the vaccine was approved for production in December 2011. At a launch in the city of Xiamen, Gao Yongzhong, general manager of Xiamen Innovax, said the company is working with the government to offer the vaccine to high-risk members of the public. It is also cooperating with international organizations to introduce it to other countries. The hepatitis E virus is shed in feces and spread through tainted water and food. The World Health Organization estimates that 20 million people around the world are infected by the virus each year. In China, hepatitis E is now the most common type of hepatitis infecting adults. It is also widespread in South and Southeast Asia, Africa and Central America.

Fire in Hong Kong claims two lives Posted: 26 Oct 2012 07:50 PM PDT A fire broke out at a village house in Yuen Long, New Territories of Hong Kong, early this morning, claiming the lives of two boys and leaving one woman injured, the city's government news website said. The accident occurred at No. 492 Kam Wing Garden in Pat Heung, Yuen Long. The Fire Services Department received the call at 00:55 am today, and arrived at the scene at 1:01 am. Firemen used one jet and mobilized two breathing apparatus to fight the blaze. The fire was largely put out at 1:22 am. Three victims were sent to hospital where two boys aged seven and eight were certified dead upon arrival. A 35-year-old woman is now receiving medical treatment. According to local media reports, she is a Filipino maid. The Fire Services Department is now investigating the cause of the fire.

China urges Japan not to misread situation Posted: 26 Oct 2012 07:45 PM PDT CHINA has asked Japan to have a clear picture of the situation, correct its mistake and handle the problem between the two countries properly, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said yesterday. China and Japan have maintained contact and consultations on the issue of Diaoyu Islands through various channels and in different forms, Zhang told reporters at a press briefing. The two sides started vice foreign ministerial-level consultations on Diaoyu Islands in Beijing on September 25, Zhang said. In the contact and consultations at all levels, China has stated its government's solemn position on the issue and strong determination to safeguard territorial integrity, Zhang said. "China has urged Japan to have a correct reading of the situation, abandon any illusion and face up to reality," Zhang said. "Japan should correct its mistake with credible steps and make real efforts so that the current problem will be handled properly," he said.

6 killed in NW China traffic accident Posted: 26 Oct 2012 07:42 PM PDT FIVE school pupils and one villager were killed in a traffic accident in northwest China's Gansu Province, which also injured six others yesterday afternoon, local authorities said today. The accident happened at about 5:10 pm, when a light truck careened off a mountain road and tumbled 200 meters down a slope in Wudu district of Longnan city, officials from the city government said. The truck was carrying 13 people, including eight students who were returning home from school. One managed to jump out of the vehicle and survived without injury. Further investigation is underway.

Typhoon Son-Tinh to bring rainstorms to S. China Posted: 26 Oct 2012 07:38 PM PDT SON-TINH, the 23rd tropical storm this year, strengthened to typhoon early this morning and is expected to bring rainstorms and gales to China's southern coastal areas, the country's meteorological authority said today. The National Meteorological Center of China said the center of Son-Tinh, which is gaining strength, was 75 kilometers to the southwest of Sansha, a newly established city in the South China Sea, at 5 am today. It was moving northwestward at a speed of 20 to 25 km per hour. The approaching Son-Tinh is expected to bring heavy rainfall and strong wind to the southern parts of China, including parts of Hainan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the coming two days. Sansha and southern parts of Hainan will be hit the hardest by downpours, according to the meteorological center.

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